My Dad Is 100 Years Old

Europe ’51

Get ready for a special evening of film and conversation featuring frequent collaborators Isabella Rossellini and director Guy Maddin, who have teamed up on such films as The Saddest Music in the World and the Wex-supported Keyhole. The evening features screenings of their short My Dad Is 100 Years Old (2005, 16 mins., video), a tribute to renowned Italian director Roberto Rossellini written by and starring Isabella, his daughter, and of the new Criterion Collection restoration of Roberto Rossellini’s Europe ’51 (1952, 113 mins., DCP), which stars Ingrid Bergman, Roberto’s then-wife and Isabella’s mother. A lively conversation between Maddin and Rossellini about their collaborations and her iconic parents follows the films.

My Dad Is 100 Years Old considers Roberto Rossellini’s relationship with Bergman and his tumultuous career, with Isabella Rossellini portraying her father's antagonists, including David Selznick and Federico Fellini. In Europe ’51, Bergman plays an American woman living in Rome and struggling to cope with grief following her son’s suicide. Like Roberto Rossellini's Journey to Italy, which also stars Bergman and screens August 2–3 at the Wex, this film addresses the impact of spiritual crises and is now widely praised after being dismissed by many critics at the time of its release.